Regex to match a string that does not start and / or end with spaces, but allows trailing spaces

Question

I need the regex to not match lines that start and / or end with space (s) but match between spaces. I am not a regex expert.

I can use 2 regular expressions if needed.

Note. Use .

to show space in examples.

matches false for

 .text.
 ..text
 text..
 ..te.xt..

matches true for

 text
 te..xt

I came up with this. It only matches the initial spaces.

^(?!\s+).*$

+3

hIpPy Feb 20 13 at 0:04

3 answers

You can use a character class \S

with bindings ^

and $

.

^\S(.*\S)?$

Optional grouping is .*\S

required to match a single nonspatial symbol.

+6

Scott Wegner Feb 20 13 at 12:11 am

It might be easier to combine what you don't want and then reverse it:

!Regex.IsMatch(input, @"(^\s)|(\s$)")

+1

Shane andrade Feb 20 13 at 0:07

Kyrylo M · Accepted Answer · 2013-02-20T00:18:59+0000

This template should do the trick:

^\S+.*?\S+$

And usage:

Regex.IsMatch(input, @"^\S+.*?\S+$"))